Chris Sutton provides his score prediction for Tottenham vs Liverpool

Chris Sutton believes that Son Heung-min’s absence will cost Tottenham on Sunday and backed Liverpool to take all three points in North London.

Antonio Conte’s men have made a habit of coming from behind to win the game over recent weeks and that is exactly what transpired in their Champions League clash against Marseille on Tuesday.

(Photo by Valerio Pennicino – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

The 2-1 win for Spurs ensured that they finished top of Group D but the one negative to come from the game was Son’s injury, with the South Korean having to come off after a nasty head collision with Marseille defender Chancel Mbemba.

Tottenham have confirmed that the forward has sustained a fracture around his left eye socket and will now undergo surgery. 

Sutton believes that the Lilywhites will struggle to overcome Liverpool in Son’s absence, given the injuries they already have to their forward line. The pundit backed Jurgen Klopp’s men to emerge 2-1 winners on Sunday.

Sutton told BBC Sport: “Son Heung-min’s injury is especially bad timing for Tottenham at the moment with two other attacking players, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski, already out.

“The only bit of good news for Spurs fans is that I am backing Liverpool to win, and I have been wrong about pretty much every Liverpool result this season.

“I honestly don’t know what to expect from either team here because as good as Liverpool have been in Europe over the past couple of weeks, they have been as poor in the Premier League to lose to Nottingham Forest and then Leeds.

“As for Spurs, well they seem to specialise in starting games badly then battling back to win. Whether they can do that without Son is another matter though.

“Both managers, Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp, have been moaning a lot about how exhausted their players are so, based on that, this will be a dull game between two tired teams.

“I don’t see it turning out that way myself, though. Both teams are so erratic that they could end the game completely differently to the way they start it, so it will be exciting to watch. 

“I am going for Liverpool to edge it, although I have to admit that is a massive guess.”

Prediction: 1-2 to Liverpool

Spurs Web Opinion

Even if one of Kulusevski or Richarlison is passed fit for the game, it is extremely unlikely that either player will start the match. So, Son’s unavailability is a major blow for Conte.

Despite the South Korean’s poor form this season, this is the sort of game where he would have thrived as the high line that Liverpool deploy would have given him space to run into.

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